Bushwalk Australia

Has anyone been to the top of either Paterson Hill or Grose Head North in the lower Grose?

I will probabyl be going today to Vale Lookout (Vale of Avoca Recreation Area) and taking one of the single tracks marked on the Kurrajong Map down to the Grose. Then I will head up to Burralow Creek and climb a ridge up to Paterson Hill and, if time permits, I will investigate the possibility of crossing a saddle and climbing to Grose Head North.

All feasible. The easier ridge to Patterson Hill (great views) is the one from the Cabbage Tree Ck / Burralow Ck junction. Straightforward but could be scrubby from there to Gross Head North. For a mostly round trip you can follow the ridge south down (no scrambling) to the Springwood Ck / Grose junction, then what's left of the Engineers Track back.

Alternatives: For a complete round trip you can drop into Cabbage Tree Ck from the road, maybe 3/4 km back from the lookout. Or if your a good scrambler you can get up to the lookout about 50-100m to the NE of the actual nose (found a route up on 24/4/95 - there's a report on this walk in The Waysider Iss. 251 Jy-Aug 1995). If you like a bit of a navigation challenge and don't mind a long car shuffle (check if road has been reopened) you can follow the Patterson Range to intersect the Donna Track. Could also be very scrubby; I did it after one of the big Grose fires.

Yep, it is definately a great walk in a great area - I can't believe I hadn't been to this area before today despite spending years in the upper mountains, Kanangra, Mt. Wilson etc. I reccomend this area to others who haven't really payed a lot of attention to the lower Grose area.

The pass down to Grose River from the carpark at "Waterboard Firetrail" just before you reach the lookout carpark is awesome! In some places it is a really fun scramble.
The going was quite easy on the Grose, then up Burralow Ck to Cabbage Tree Ck and then up to Patterson Hill summit where there is a log book and apparantly a geocache too, which I didn't find.
It is also easy going down to the saddle between Paterson Hill and Grose Head North. From there up to Grose Head North was quite a bash. The area has been affected by fire. There are also rogue patches of vines. I have plenty of cuts on my legs now - for experienced scrub bashers it is feasible. I'd only reccomend going to Grose Head North if doing some sort of round trip - I just went and returned the same way. The views at Grose Head North would be superb if there were less trees around.

Today was also a perfect day for a swim in the Grose at the Burralow Ck intersection!

The Burralow Road is currently closed from Bells Line of Road down to the camping area (signs saying closed to all walkers, cyclists, horses etc). It is open from Kurrajong down to the camping area though.
It should be ok to walk or ride from the locked gate near Bells Line of Road down to Donna Track or Browns Ridge, I did that yesterday after ringing Blackheath NPWS to confirm.